Babushka's Paper Ball Ornaments: Sharing Childhood Memories

When I was a child, I was smitten with the paper ball ornaments my grandmother made for decorating her Christmas tree.  Babushka recycled old Christmas cards for these, carefully centering the designs and cutting them out in circles, gluing them together along the edges, and adding silver glitter for the crowning touch.  I found this picture of a similar ornament, though it's not nearly as enchanting as my childhood memory of the ones that Babushka made!  I wish I had one of them now...

You can send the supplies for your child to have the fun of making these.  Cut out circles from Christmas cards and score or fold the sides before sending to your child... make sure to send your child a photo of what the finished product looks like!   
Christmas Paper Ball Ornament

Years ago when I first saw Scandinavian woven heart ornaments like this one here, I fell in love with them, and promptly made some myself.  They were fairly simple to make, and I loved seeing them hanging up like miniature baskets to fill with tiny treats or even little love notes.  How about making one for your child, and then also sending the materials already cut out for her to enjoy making them too?  And consider sending them with some tiny note cards decorated with a Christmas sticker or stamp design on the front, and suggest to your child that they add a little love note in the heart basket to give to their family on Christmas.   Scandanivan Heart Ornament

This ornament is even easier to make using strips of paper. For an extra flair like the ones pictured here, cut strips of double sided cardstock, which you can find in scrapbooking supplies.   Heart Ornaments from Strips of Paper

And here's one more adorable paper ornament for your child to make...  the template is a very simple star shape... and this is yet another use for those old Christmas cards!  Use the template provided here to cut out your own ornaments for your kids to assemble...  Pyramid Box Template

As a child, I absolutely adored making paper chains...  I loved licking the ends and sticking them together, and watching my chain growing longer and longer.  So much fun!  These inexpensive strips can be ordered from places such as Oriental Trading. Paper Chains

These are just a few of the myriads of ideas for making paper ornaments.  Maybe you have treasured ones of your own that you use each year, or special memories of ones from days gone by... consider how you can share a replica with your sponsored child to enjoy and share your special memory together with you.

Blessings!